Bill Gates Seeks More High-Tech Visas

Common Sense Craig · 03-13-2008, 12:32 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — More investment in math and science education and a more liberal policy toward skilled foreign workers are crucial if America is to avoid losing its competitive edge in the world, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told Congress Wednesday.
The shortage of scientists and engineers is so acute that "we must do both: reform our education system and our immigration policies. If we don't American companies simply will not have the talent to innovate and compete," Gates said in testimony to the House Science Committee.

The Associated Press: Gates Seeks More High-Tech Visas

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My problem with H1-B Visas has always been that it seems to me that the U.S. corporations and politicians are trying to do all they can to UNeducate Americans and deny them access to higher learning. As in this article, they keep saying that there is a lack of educated, intelligent workers that are U.S. born and that they have to go to other countries.

What happened to pride in U.S.A.? What happened to making this country the best in the world? Why keep destroying education, and now trying to destroy home-schooling?

Is this the continuing dumbing down of the United States?!

Everyone: just make sure you fight for education for your children; keep them interested in learning, help them look, research, learn more and more every day, so that they can become our future, not foreign imports and Illegals!

TenGig · 03-13-2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

we must do both: reform our education system and our immigration policies.

Bill Gates is the man! I always wanted him to run for president.

Preperation H · 03-13-2008, 01:31 PM

It would be odd cause he would have less education than our current president but be smarter than him also...

nuit · 06-05-2008, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Common Sense Craig

WASHINGTON (AP) — More investment in math and science education and a more liberal policy toward skilled foreign workers are crucial if America is to avoid losing its competitive edge in the world, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told Congress Wednesday.
The shortage of scientists and engineers is so acute that "we must do both: reform our education system and our immigration policies. If we don't American companies simply will not have the talent to innovate and compete," Gates said in testimony to the House Science Committee.

The Associated Press: Gates Seeks More High-Tech Visas

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My problem with H1-B Visas has always been that it seems to me that the U.S. corporations and politicians are trying to do all they can to UNeducate Americans and deny them access to higher learning. As in this article, they keep saying that there is a lack of educated, intelligent workers that are U.S. born and that they have to go to other countries.

What happened to pride in U.S.A.? What happened to making this country the best in the world? Why keep destroying education, and now trying to destroy home-schooling?

Is this the continuing dumbing down of the United States?!

Everyone: just make sure you fight for education for your children; keep them interested in learning, help them look, research, learn more and more every day, so that they can become our future, not foreign imports and Illegals!

Intelligence seems to be in short supply in this country.

michaelr · 06-05-2008, 01:10 PM

He wants an unlimited supply of the visas. Gates likes slaves, hell we would have Seattle filled with them for his company. He is a NWO pig.

Merantes · 06-10-2008, 04:30 PM

Gates is right. Most of the Master's and PhD level people I hire are not American. At present roughly 80% of our PhDs and 50% of our MS are foreign. I'd love to hire more Americans, but there are not as many competitive applicants. The current cap on new H-1B visa (for skilled workers: technical, medical, programmers, etc) is 65,000, although this amount is always allowed to be exceeded by roughly two fold. Every year, there are in the neighborhood of 300,000 H-1B applications, more than 65,000 of which arrive on the first day applications open. There was a 3-fold extension in the 65K cap in the late 90's that was allowed to expire after 9-11. We need to increase the cap. These are immigrants we need. They bring valuable skills and the majority want to stay.

We also need to improve our educational system. It has deteriorated so much in the last 30 years that we have gone from having arguably the best educational system in the world to have one of the worst in the industrialized world.

Common Sense Craig · 06-10-2008, 05:07 PM

But my point is that with the forced decline of the U.S. educational system by the government DOUBLED WITH the pressing for more foreign workers IS destroying the United States, not helping it.

Basically our government, along with their rich, powerful corporate exec friends, are purposely dumbing down education and the Legal Citizens here in the United States for profit.

I've worked with a lot of people throughout my 27 + years of full-time working and they are as smart and better able to communicate than a lot of foreign guest workers. I've known a lot of people who had to TRAIN foreign workers for the job the Legal U.S. citizen had so that Legal U.S. citizen can be laid off and the foreign guest worker can have the job.

Screw these government crackheads and their powerful corporate exec friends. THEY are the ones who belong in the Anti-American column, NOT the people who are against the ridiculous invasion of Iraq.

nuit · 06-10-2008, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Common Sense Craig

Basically our government, along with their rich, powerful corporate exec friends, are purposely dumbing down education and the Legal Citizens here in the United States for profit.

I've worked with a lot of people throughout my 27 + years of full-time working and they are as smart and better able to communicate than a lot of foreign guest workers. I've known a lot of people who had to TRAIN foreign workers for the job the Legal U.S. citizen had so that Legal U.S. citizen can be laid off and the foreign guest worker can have the job.

Screw these government crackheads and their powerful corporate exec friends. THEY are the ones who belong in the Anti-American column, NOT the people who are against the ridiculous invasion of Iraq.

I always thought that the US govt was purposely trying to keep america stupid because its easier to manipulate stupid people. ie the govt doesn't want people thinking for themselves when it comes to electing the 'most powerful person on the planet'. foreigners have less rights and sometimes expect more benefits, such as 4 or more weeks annual leave, full health insurance because some of us come from socialist countries where this is a given, so some of us go home again too where things might actually be better. perhaps they can pay us less also. But bringing in people to be trained, thats bizarre - unless they are being trained how to fit into the corporate system, as each corporate system is different.

Merantes · 06-10-2008, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Common Sense Craig

But my point is that with the forced decline of the U.S. educational system by the government DOUBLED WITH the pressing for more foreign workers IS destroying the United States, not helping it.

Basically our government, along with their rich, powerful corporate exec friends, are purposely dumbing down education and the Legal Citizens here in the United States for profit.

I've worked with a lot of people throughout my 27 + years of full-time working and they are as smart and better able to communicate than a lot of foreign guest workers. I've known a lot of people who had to TRAIN foreign workers for the job the Legal U.S. citizen had so that Legal U.S. citizen can be laid off and the foreign guest worker can have the job.

Screw these government crackheads and their powerful corporate exec friends. THEY are the ones who belong in the Anti-American column, NOT the people who are against the ridiculous invasion of Iraq.

I am in partial agreement with you. Our educational system is tanking and the government does seem pretty clueless in trying to fix it, assuming that government is trying to fix it. Considerable blame also belongs to the leaders in public education as well, specifically those who are training our teachers. My mother was an elementary school teacher for 30+ years. She and many others have noted some truly frightening trends. Phonics fell out of favor for quite a while in favor of word memorization. Kids taught this way grow their vocabulary more quickly at first but have trouble sounding out new words. Teachers are now hesitant to fail poorly performing students because it might hurt their feelings. This does not help them in the long run. Teachers aren't even allowed to effectively discipline students anymore. (That is government's fault).

Another problem is that kids here don't have as many incentives to go into science and engineering as opposed to law for example. We do need lawyers but science and tech professionals are needed to develop new technologies and staff the companies that will bring them to market. That is what adds to the economy.

Regarding foreign workers, we should try draw in the most skilled and talented individuals from around the world and make them want to stay. For our own interests, it's better to have them work for US companies than to work for competing companies in other countries -- or for US firms to outsource that work to them as an employee of a foreign firm.

Many people worry that foreign workers will be hired at a lower wage or take positions that an American would otherwise fill. I can only speak for the class of worker I know -- MS and PhD level -- but there is no difference in offered wage. Also, there is a shortage of workers the fields in which I work: biotech, nanotech, and pharmaceutical development, so there is plenty of room for Americans, too. As I said before, I would love to hire more.

Common Sense Craig · 06-11-2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuit

I always thought that the US govt was purposely trying to keep america stupid because its easier to manipulate stupid people. ie the govt doesn't want people thinking for themselves when it comes to electing the 'most powerful person on the planet'. foreigners have less rights and sometimes expect more benefits, such as 4 or more weeks annual leave, full health insurance because some of us come from socialist countries where this is a given, so some of us go home again too where things might actually be better. perhaps they can pay us less also.

Good points. It's probably for those reasons, too.

Quote:

But bringing in people to be trained, thats bizarre - unless they are being trained how to fit into the corporate system, as each corporate system is different.

All I know is what I have seen and then ask these people and they tell me that they are bewildered themselves. Some have worked at a job for 10, 15, 20 years and then they are told to train a new worker in what they are doing. Then they are layed off and hear from co-workers still working there that the person they'd train has their job now.
These are various engineering jobs.

The people I know who had I.T. jobs and customer service and clerical jobs had their jobs sent overseas, mostly.